Which tool is Over Rated???

[Carroll Courtney]

IMO I have two thoughts on which ones I think is over rated(be nice to the Festool people)On the auction site it amazes me how much people will bid on the older Delta Tenoning Jig which goes in the upper 250 plus,I just don't see the romance in that tool other than collectible.Me being a PM fan and having a PM100,I just don't see the blade grinders that attach to the top of the planer,either the 12",16",18" or whatever.They look nice and I'm sure they work but DANG for a complete setup your talking close to 500 bills.So for me,1)Delta Tenon Jig,2) PM Blade Gringer,I just shake my head looking at the bids on these items.What are ya'll thoughts on over rated tools or machines----Carroll

[phil harold]

all the ones I cant afford!

[Jim Watts]

Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

[johnny means]

Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

Haha, being in the Philly area my first thought was Micheal Vick, after a little thought I came up with Andy Reed

[George Bregar]

Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

Ha ha thanks!

[John Fabre]

All the ones I don't have yet.

[Jim Watts]

Sorry, Carroll - didn't intend to hijack your thread.

Ummm...wide-belt or drum sanders.

[keith micinski]

Michael Vick over rated as a Philly fan REALLY? If you would have said you were from Atlanta ok but what more could you have wanted from him this year. And he only cost 2 mill. I'll get it back on topic. The DW735 in my mind is the most overrated tool and I have a personal vendetta against it.

[Van Huskey]

Umm off the top of my head an original fence for a PM141/143... couldn't help myself.

The tenon jig is a classic example of the romance of the American machine era. I see the table saw tenon jig as a kludge compared to many of the ways to cut tenons with the shaper being first and the bandsaw being second. The TS jig just seems contrived to me. I haven't seen that the older ones are light years better then the current ones, gimme a few minutes with a $80 current version tuning it up and it will cut with an old Delta.

I see equal romance in the knife grinders. As with the fence I mentioned it just makes a machine "complete" but the "modern" way seems better to me. First a Byrd head really makes them obsolete and has lots of advantages though they can be prohibitively expensive for some older planers. I haven't seen grinders in practice produce razor sharp knives either, for me the Deulen system would be my choice instead for significantly less money and you can have shaving razors if you like, would be perfect for your 100.

For me I would throw all upper end machines out there as over rated. I have had the opportunity over the years to use some really amazing tools and they were everyone excellent BUT it was clear the point of diminishing returns was met many thousands of dollars earlier. I have a friend who's cabinet shop got a Felder A741 jointer last year. This piece of equipment is gorgeous and is a dream to use but the Grizzly 16" jointer I used a couple of years ago did just as good of a job, probably better in knarly grain because it has a spiral head but cost half as much. Maybe the Felder will have long term advantages in a commercial shop but in a hobby shop I think it is more pride of ownership than anything else. So I suppose my opinion is a more subjective one than usual in that all the high end tools past MY point of diminishing returns are over-rated, but it doesn't mean I don't covet them!

[Bruce Wrenn]

The in place knife grinders are for production work. I once worked in a plant that had a 60" planer. During morning or afternoon break (less than 15 minutes) techs could do all three knives and be up and running when we came back. We were running laminated beams, some of which were over 120 feet long, by 12" deep and up to five foot wide. Changing out a set of knives would have shut down the entire line for a couple hours. Knife changes occurred on third shift, when production staff wasn't present. My Rockwell 13" (designed to compete with the PM 100) featured both in place grinder, and replacement heads complete with blades. It was quicker to swap out whole head than to replace the blades

[david brum]

Following the same line of reasoning, there seem to be plenty of hand tools which are priced well beyond the point of diminishing returns. For instance, you can get a superb hand plane from several manufacturers for $2-300. You can also get a custom hand plane for $6000. I don't know that anyone really thinks that the $6000 plane actually works better, but they are nonetheless made and sold on a regular basis. Heck, if I had one (assuming I had no higher use for 6k) I'd be afraid to use it anyway.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

BOOM!! goes the dynamite. Pretty doggone clever. Lost my coffee.

[Peter Quinn]

I wasn't aware there was a rating system in place for tools? There are tools which are beyond my price point or from which my perceived utility is less than their cost, but this is highly subjective. I used to think that an Italian bandsaw must be overrated until I got one. Oh, I use one off those older delta tenoning jigs at work. They are heavy by comparison to the current versions but I prefer my green woodcraft special frankly in most cases. But the delta has the sexy factor hands down, looks better on a shelf from every angle!. I guess overrated sounds like disappointment to me, and disappointment is all about expectations. Mine are generally either low or realistic.

[Don Dorn]

Wow - I had no idea on the older Delta tenon jig. I have one and haven't used it in ages - I know what I'm selling!

[Rod Sheridan]

Router, biscuit joiner, cordless electric tools.

As always it depends upon how, and what you work on..............Rod.